Future connectivity amid shifting economic and consumer demand

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF COMMUNICATIONSUK CHAPTER EVENT

Future connectivity amid shifting economic and consumer demand

IIC UK Chapter meeting took place Tuesday 24th May at OFCOM.

Chaired by Martin Cave (Competition Commission), the UK Chapter meeting on ‘Future connectivity amid shifting economic and consumer demand’ on 24th May was the first Chapter meeting attended by new IIC President Chris Chapman.

He opened the floor with a review of the essential ingredients for good policy and of Australia’s drive to universal connectivity. This was complemented by an overview of the financial structure created for it (Ian Martin, New Street Research, Australia). Ben Wreschner (Vodafone) offered his view on the ideal EU policy mix to arrive at a Gigabit society: focus on the right competitive structure and investments and consumer welfare will follow. A particular set of consumers is served by communications satellites: James Cemell (Inmarsat) commented on the EU’s ambitions on satellites and their significant role with the Internet of Things. The connected car is likely to be the single most important (ehm) vehicle for mass adoption of 5G applications. As the discussion touched on demand for speed, international mobile services and potential trade-offs in policy objectives, the consensus remains that – quoting Chapman’s opening remarks - “Good policy and legislative and regulatory frameworks have never been more important”.